UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA. 

I SCHOOL OF MINES. 

THEO. B. COMSTOCK, Director. 


BULLETIN NO. 1. 


^ PLAN OF ORGANIZATION, # 

^ EQUIPMENT # 

^ and ^ 

^ RELATIONS TO THE PUBLIC. # 


TUCSON, ARIZ., OCTOBER 1,'l891. 













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AEIZONA SCHOOL OF MINES 


FACULTY: 

THEO. B. COMSTOCK, Sc D , 

Oir«etor, Professor of Wining and W®tnllnrgy. 

CHAS. B. COLLINGWOOD.SA.S , 

Professor of Chemistry. 

VASA E. STOLBRAND, C E , 

Professor of Wsithematiss. 


'I he Departments of Geology, Mineralogy, Physics and Applied 
Sciences, will be placed under the charge of Professors as soon as the 
instruction in those branches is needed by the students. 




- , ^ _ UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA. 

/Ar< XoH-a , s'- mvc .L, 

SCHOOL OF MINES. 

THEO, B. COMSTOCK, Director. 


BULLETIN NO. 1. 


# PLAN OF ORGANIZATION, * 

# EQUIPMENT ^ 

AND 

^ RELATIONS TO THE PUBLIC. # 


TUCSON, ARIZ., OCTOBER 1, 1891. 





N. B.—This Bulletin is the first of a series which it is pro¬ 
posed to issue from ti}e School of twines. The present number 
contains a statement of the ahrjS and objects of the school, witij 
the plans thus far adopted to carry out these purposes, and explains 
i)ow persons in any way interested in these matters may utilize 
the facilities offered and aid in extending sucij advantages. 

Future Bulletins will discuss practical problems of interest to 
miners and metallurgists, and give some of the results of actual working 
tests made in the laboratories of the School of Mines, under the direc¬ 
tion of competent men. Kindly write to the Director if you are helped 
by any suggestions, and give us an account of such difficulties as you 
may meet in the mining or after-treatment of ores. Remember, if we 
do not come close to your needs, it is our purpose to have it your fault, 
not ours. 

Read carefully the remarks in this Bulletin under the caption 
of Relations to the Public. 

This and succeeding numbers of the Bulletin will be sent to those 
who request to have their names placed upon the mailing list. 



Z/ci, 7<s /f2 2 _ 
/ 


ARIZONA SCHOOL OF MINES. 


THEO. B. COMSTOCK, Director. 


BULniiETiisr isro. i. 


synopsis: 

Organization of the School, or College, of Mines and relations to the 
University.— Office of Director.—University Council.—Uni¬ 
versity Faculty.—Classes of Students, Regular and Special. 
Post-Graduates and Fellows.—The position of the Mining School 
in this system. Aims and purposes of the School. 

Equipment.— ^/l/fetallurgio Laboratory.—Physical Laboratory, 
including Electric Plant—Ttje Chemical Laboratory.—The 
Mining Department.—Museury of Geology and i/Jineraiogy — 
Mathematical Department.—The Library. 

Relations to the Public. Endowment by Territorial and National 
Governments entails responsibilities and duties of instruction, 
Investigation and Experimentation. —Distinction between work 
of research and training of students and work performed for 
individuals.—Donations of ores and minerals requested.—Facilities 
for examination of properties solicited.—Concluding remarks. 


OEGANIZATION. 


The School of Mines is organized under a Territorial law providing 
for the establishment of distinct and independent colleges holding 
equivalent rank in a group which together constitute the University of 
Arizona, and the Board has formally placed the responsible manage¬ 
ment of each in the hands of a Director, who is charged with the duty 
of organizing, equipping and conducting the work of the College. 

Each Director, by approval of the Board, lays out the plan of his 
college, selects his instructors and other assistants, acting as Dean o( 






4 


his Faculty, and generally as the executive head of the college which he 
directs. He procures the necessary equipment, lays out work for 
others and exercises the functions of President in his particular sphere. 

The University Council is made up of the Directors of all the Colleges, 
one of whom is annually chosen Chairman, or Dean, of University Faculty* 

The Council has jurisdiction in matters of general executive 
character, affecting University policy, and especially in matters affecting 
the assignment of work which is equivalent in two or more colleges. By 
this arrangement duplication of labor is avoided. 

The University Faculty is composed of all the Directors, Professors 
and Acting Professors in the different colleges. This body (to nhich 
Assistant Professors and Instructors are admitted without voting powers) 
is charged with the discipline and routine work relating to the students, 
much the same as in other institutions of learning. 

The Student body comprises several classes, occupying somewhat 
diverse positions as regards their relations to each other, but all 
amenable to the direction of the University Faculty, 

A. Undergraduate students may be either, i. [Regular, or 2. Special. 

1, In each college there are established courses leading to degrees. 
Students pursuing such courses are classed as Regulars. All questions 
pertaining to their entrance, class standing, discipline and the like are 
adjudicated by the University Faculty. 

2. Special students are those who, for any reason, may be pursuing 
particular lines of study, either under the advice and supervision of the 
University Faculty or of its committees, or under the care of one of the 
colleges or its Director. These students are also subject to the regula¬ 
tions of the general Faculty, 

B. Post-graduate students, graduates of the University of Arizona or 
of institutions of equivalent rank, are eligible to special privileges of 
study, subject always to the control of the General Faculty, Certain of 
these, upon successful competition, may be chosen as Fellows, who 
receive a moderate financial compensation while pursuing special post¬ 
graduate study. Fellows will be required to assist to a limited degree 
in the instruction of the lower classes. 

'Fhus it will be seen that, while the new School of Mines has 
important relations to the University of Arizona, from which it is in¬ 
separable, and from the individual colleges of which it receives very 
essential support and assistance in instruction, it is, nevertheless, wholly 
independent in its distinctive features as a mining school and experi¬ 
mental laboratory. In matters not affecting other colleges, this 
school has its own President (Director) and Faculty wholly free to act, 
subject only to the approval of the Board of Regents. The advantages 
of this arrangement are great and two-fold. First, each and every 
student of the School of Mines receives the benefit of instruction from 

* ‘Professor F, A, Gulley, Dean of the School of Agriculture, is now the Acting Chairman 


5 


more and better sources, and the apparatus and collections of the other col¬ 
leges are also accessible to him; seco/?c//y, the vital issues which distinguish 
this college from all others are thereby confided to those only who are com¬ 
petent to manage them, whose interests are involved insuccess or failure. 

Again, there is, as we believe, much more work at our doors than 
the mere establishment of a school for youth desiring training in mining 
and metallurgic engineering. These we think we can teach better in the 
neighborhood of the mines than in a district remote from them, and we 
propose, as has been stated, to perform this duty as well as it can be 
done elsewhere, to say the least. But the Board of Regents in its selec¬ 
tion of the Director, has stipulated that all due regard shall be had to 
the practical study of the especial needs of Arizona mines and miners. 
The Director, in accepting this appointment, has strongly urged the 
necessity of freedom of action upon this very point, so that the govern¬ 
ment of the School of Mines is most emphatically committed to the 
policy of establishing and maintaining friendly and sympathetic rela¬ 
tions with those who prospect, those who mine and those who treat the ores. 

It is our intention to receive and work the mine products of the 
Territory in the laboratory, not only as a means of training to our 
students, but to give the ores thorough tests by different processes in 
order to determine beyond a doubt the class of machinery best adapted 
for each. The plans have been drawn and much of the machinery has 
been already purchased. So far as the funds provided will permit, 
the laboratory at Tucson will be put into shape for use in the manner 
indicated. The terms and conditions upon which ores can be received 
are clearly stated on page 8 of this Bulletin, Please read carefully. 

EQUIPMENT. 

The School, or College, of Mines must necessarily include several 
important branches or departments of study, and provision must, 
therefore, be made for apparatus and illustrations of somewhat compre¬ 
hensive character. To ensure the best possible results with the most 
economic expenditure, the Director devoted some weeks to a careful 
scrutiny of the markets and the obtaining of competitive bids from the 
best dealers and manufacturers. The very liberal spirit in which 
overtures have been met has given us a plant of machinery and an 
equipment of apparatus such as has probably not been equaled by any 
institution similarly placed at the start. By reason of heavy discounts 
and generous donations we shall be able very soon to offer inducements 
akin to those of the older mining schools, with advantages not duplicated 
elsewhere, 

THE MINING DEPARTMENT. 

The equipment required for illustration in the branches bearing 


directly upon mining is not deficient. We have purchased an excellent 
outfit of surveying instruments for use above and be.ow ground, in¬ 
cluding everything requisite for the most accurate work in the field and 
oitice. Apparatus for the study of ventilation in mines by practical tests, 
appliances for draughting and the reproduction of drawings and many 
other tools and machines are being rapidly procured. 

THE METALLURGIC LABORATORY. 

The first care has been to firmly establish a testing laboratory 
where ores can be treated upon a working scale by any one or all of the 
prominent methods in use. Wherever possible, actual mill machinery 
has been secured, and in many cases working models of equivalent 
types of other patterns have been obtained for illustration. The crush¬ 
ing floor is to be divided into three parts so arranged that ores may pass 
aut"matically through all the machines of a set, or process, or they may 
})e stopped at will, or deflected to other apparatus, at any paH of their 
movement desired. Thus lots, large or small, may be handled with 
equal satisfaction; an ore may be sampled only, or it may be sampled 
and concentrated, wet or dry ; it may be passed through rolls or stamps; 
be amalgamated, chlorinated or lixiviated ; roasted or not, as needed; 
and into whatever number of parts it may be separated by the process, 
a strict account can be kept of every portion as to quant ty, condition 
and assay value. By simple mechanical adjustments the different 
machines may be run together or separately, and sufficient power has 
been provided to enable several processes to be going on simultaneously 
on ditferent lots of ore. When the plant is complete, as designed by 
the Director, there will be means of illustrating and practically testing 
the smelting qualities of various ores, although, of course, this cannot be 
done in exact duplication of the furnaces in commercial use. A very 
complete sampling room is included, entirely shut off from the main 
mill. Into this the sample comes automatically through a Comstock 
sampler, passing without handling to a sample grinder, from which it 
goes to the muller and plate for final trituration. The pulp pre- 
j)ared here, and the check samples taken in the inill at the different 
machines, pass to 

' THE ASSAY LABORATORY. 

Here crucible and muffle furnaces conveniently placed will furnish 
facilities for accurate and extensive fire assays, while full provision has 
been made for wet assavs and analyses. The balances selected are of 
the highest grade and of the most approved modern patterns. The 
equipment will stand comparison with that of the best mining schools 
of the country, and students will be made familiar with all accepted 


7 


methods. Persons desiring special work in assaying can arrange for 
such instruction by consultation with the Director of the School of Mines. 

THE PHYSICAL AND ELECTRICAL LABORATORY. 

A sum sufficient for the purchase of a very creditable list of physical 
apparatus has been set aside. Much of this will be imported. A large 
room so situated as to permit of rigid ground settings has been provided 
in the University Building, and the proposed electric plant will be placed 
conveniently near, A special high-speed automatic engine will be used 
to drive the dynamo, and the use of motors, storage batteries, arc and 
incandescent lighting will be practically illustrated. A very complete 
photographic laboratory has been established with a variety of cameras 
and lenses, and a full supply of materials for field and laboratory use. 
Provision is also made for illustiation by means of the oxy-hydrogen and 
electric lantern. In short, there are many of the older eastern institutions 
which are not as fully equipped as we shall be when our goods are all in 
place. A telegraphic line more than a mile in length, upon a complete 
working scale, affords ample facilities for instruction and testing, d'his 
line has three offices, and connects with the Western Union system. 

THE CHEMICAL LABORATORY. 

d'he instruction in General Chemistry is amply provided for in the 
facilities afforded by the laboratory of the School of Agrirulture, under 
the care of Professor Collingwood. A large and well lighted lecture 
room and laboratory, well supplied with gas, water, and ventiiation 
hoods, is equipped with the latest and best material for illustrating the 
subject of general and analytical chemistry. 

THE MUSEUM OF GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY. 

It is intended to make the Museum of the School of Mines an 
adequate representative of the ores and minerals of Arizona, as well as 
a place for the deposit of everything illustrative of the practical working 
of the mines, mills and furnaces, A beginning has already been made 
in the donation of a valuable collection made by Professor Blandin, 
formerly Territorial Geologist, and by the deposit of the collections ot 
Dr. Comstock, Director of the School. These last comprise many rare 
minerals from other regions, from which exchanges will be made with 
institutions and individuals, so as to materially increase the variety of 
specimens. 

MATHEMATICAL DEBAR T M ENT. 

The classes in pure Mathenialics will be combined with those in 
the School of Agriculture under Professor Stolbrand. The excellent 


8 


instruments of precision already procured for that College will thus be 
available for instruction as well as those belonging to the School of 
Mines. The combined equipment consists of plain engineers’ transits 
and levels, hydrographic levels, plane tables, solar compasses, mining 
and solar transits, models and drawings of pumps and other mechanical 
appliances, all of the most approved modern patterns. 

THE LIBRARY. 

Besides the books, pamphlets and periodicals belonging to the 
general library, many special works on mining and metallurgy have been 
procured, and a fair sum of money has been set aside for the purchase 
of additions. All the prominent technical journals and society transac¬ 
tions will be accessible to students and others in the library of the 
University. 

RELATIONS TO THE PUBLIC. 


The School of Mines is endowed by the Territory and by the 
General Government of the United States. It, therefore, numbers 
among its duties that of contributing to the public weal by investiga¬ 
tion, experimentation and the publication of the results of tests made 
upon ores where no private interests are compromised thereby. This 
responsibility and the further necessity for meeting the demands of in¬ 
terested individuals makes proper a division of the practical work into 
two classes, as below:— 

1, All w^ork undertaken for the purpose of training students mere¬ 
ly, and the work of investigation pure and simple, without reference to 
individual cases, is to be regarded as public, for the benefit of the peo¬ 
ple ; such results as may be of importance may be published generally 
for public use. 'The ores used in this class of work will be purchased, 
donated or otherwise obtained, and such wall be selected with partic¬ 
ular reference to the daily requirements of the laboratory or for their 
bearing upon special subjects of investigation, 

2, Arrangements will be made to run large or small lots of ore 
for those who desire to know how best to treat their mine products, or 
for the purpose of sampling mines. This work being in the interest 
of individual persons or corporations wull be confidential, if it be so 
desired, and the tests will be made only by competent persons. 
Reasonable charges uuiil always be made for suci] services. 

It is confidently believed from the interest already manifested, that 
owmers of mines, mills and furnaces wull meet us in a generous spirit and 


9 


aid the work in hand by liberal contributions of specimens of ores and 
metallurgic products for the museum ; by donations of low grade ores 
for concentration and of small lots of richer ores for reduction; by 
affording professors and students reasonable facilities for inspection of 
their properties and machinery, and by bringing to the attention of the 
Director any mining or metallurgic problems which confront them in 
their work. 

'Fhe terms upon which ores may be received for treatment can best 
be determined when the plant of machinery is in complete working 
order. In all cases it will be necessary to confer with the Director in 
person or by letter before consigning samples. As soon as may be 
possible a Bulletin will be issued announcing further details regarding 
the use of the testing laboratory. Correspondence is invited upon all 
questions relating to the mining and working of Arizona ores. Such 
general questions as can be answered without assays or special tests will 
be promptly attended to if stamps are enclosed for reply ; but where 
investigation or particular examinations are required, a fee will 
invariably be charged for the service rendered, unless the subject be one 
of general interest. 

Full information concerning the School of Mines and the School of 
Agriculture, with terms of admission of students, courses of study and 
other details, are given in the general circular of the University. 

All correspondence relating especially to the subjects treated in 
this Bulletin should be addressed in the first instance to 

THE DIRECTOR OF THE SCHOOL OF MINES, 

Tucson, Arizon 

Tucson, Oct. i, 1891. THEO. B. COMSTOCK, Director, 


MERRILL P. FREEMAN, Chancellor. 
JNO. M, ORMSBY, Secretary. 


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